The data, published by Statistics Canada on Friday, showed that Canadian
retail sales dropped 2.5 percent m-o-m at CAD61.34 billion in July, following a
downwardly revised 1.0 percent m-o-m rise (from +1.1 percent m-o-m) in June. This
marked the first decrease in retail sales so far this year and the steepest one
since April 2021 (-5.0 percent m-o-m).
Economists had projected a decline of 2.0 percent
m-o-m for July.
According to the report, 9 of 11 subsectors showed decreases in retail
sales in July, accounting for 94.5 percent of total retail sales. Sales at gasoline
stations (-14.2 percent m-o-m) posted the largest drop, followed by furniture
and home furnishings stores (-3.4 percent m-o-m), and clothing and clothing
accessories stores (-3.3 percent m-o-m). On the contrary, sales at miscellaneous
store retailers (+0.7 percent m-o-m) and sporting goods, hobby, book and music
stores (+0.4 percent m-o-m) recorded advances.
In y-o-y terms, Canadian retail sales jumped 8.0 percent in July,
following an upwardly revised 11.1 percent surge (from +11.0 percent) in the
previous month.